Global Partners 2003
East Africa Travel Grant Report

Marion Field Fass, Beloit College

Fax number: 1-608-363-2052

My participation in the Global Partners Project has profoundly affected my academic work and the perspectives on Africa at Beloit College. The project that I have become in involved with, African Universities Responding to HIV/AIDS is a collaborative effort between the Association of American Colleges and Universities and African Women in Science and Engineering and now Global Partners. The contributions of Global Partners to this project is tremendously appreciated.

I traveled to Kenya and Tanzania in October 2002 with Global Partners funds and had requested funds to return in summer 2003. The security alert of May 2003 caused me to rethink my plans.

African Universities Responding to HIV/AIDS has given me a large group of collaborators at 4 Kenyan universities and at Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania. I have been working with them on building curricula for undergraduate courses on HIV/AIDS, on helping them establish relationships with other academics in the US, and on developing active learning strategies for the classroom.

The most exciting courses are being implemented at Egerton University in Njoro, Kenya, where support from administration is good and several young and energetic lecturers have become involved in the course. During my visit there I found that Dr. Josiah Oumo Omolo, a biological chemist, had many great ideas for teaching and research for students. I had hoped to be able to work more with Dr. Omolo when I returned to Kenya but welcomed the opportunity to be able to work with Dr. Omolo in the US using Global Partner funds.

I invited Dr. Josiah Ouma Omolo to join me at the SENCER (Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities) Summer Institute in San Jose, California, August 6-14, 2003. This conference focuses on developing courses that bring together science and capacious social problems, such as HIV/AIDS. The conference gave Dr. Omolo the opportunity to learn new teaching methods from working with me (I was faculty at the institute) and from other colleagues in biology and chemistry. During the conference Dr. Ouma Omolo and I were able to discuss the curriculum at Egerton, to plan trainings for other lecturers, and to work on active learning strategies such as role plays and discussion. The biggest advantage to bringing Dr. Omolo to the US for this conference was the change for him to see what was being done at other universities that were constructing courses similar to the ones that he was teaching. The predominant mode of education in Kenya is lecture, and change to other methods is difficult. Participation in the SENCER Summer Institute gave Dr. Omolo more support for changing than just learning about these methods from me alone.

I was able to benefit from Dr. Omolo’s time at SENCER as well. Through our discussions I developed a greater appreciation of the impact of the AIDS epidemic on university students and faculty. We were also able to discuss his work on HIV and explore connections with US laboratories. Dr. Omolo also worked extensively with my Beloit College colleague, Dr. Brock Spencer, who is a chemist, on problem based methods of teaching chemistry, and with Duke University biologist, Dr. Sherryl Broverman, on active learning strategies.

Travel to the US to collaborate with American academics provides a boost to the career of Kenyan professors, and the resources and support available at the SENCER (Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities) Summer Institute introduced Dr. Omolo to an international community interested in his work in curriculum and in chemistry. His participation will make the work of African Universities Responding to HIV/AIDS more effective as well as he develops as a leader in curriculum design at his university.

Josiah Omolo is the tallest man in the back row. Marion Field Fass is the first woman on the left.

For additional information, please contact Matt Horstman at horstman@glca.org or 1-734-761-4833.